View source for Fort Rodd Hill

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'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (1894-1956) - A Canadian Coastal Fort first established in 1894 as a part of the "Victoria-Esquimalt Fortress". Located in present day Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Named after Admiral  [[John Rashleigh Rodd]]. Deactivated in 1956.
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|width="50%"|[[File:Fort Rodd Hill Battery Command Post - 03.jpg|350px|thumb|left|Fort Rodd Hill 6" Gun Battery Command Post]]
|width="50%"|[[Image:Fort Rodd Hill Entrance Sign.jpg|350px|thumb|right|Fort Rodd Hill Entrance Sign]]
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|colspan="2"|[[File:Fort Rodd Hill2 - 053.jpg|795px|thumb|center|Battery Belmont on Fort Rodd Hill]]
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==History of {{PAGENAME}}==
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== [[Endicott Period]] ==
Three reinforced concrete gun batteries were constructed on Fort Rod Hill between 1895 and 1900. The [[Fort Rodd Hill Upper Battery]] had a single 6" disappearing gun while the [[Fort Rodd Hill Lower Battery]] mounted two 6" disappearing guns, these batteries were designed to engage larger enemy ships at a distance. [[Battery Belmont]] mounted two rapid fire barbette 12-pounder guns that were designed to counter small, fast motor torpedo boats that might attempt to enter the harbor.
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== [[World War II]] (1939-1945) ==
At the beginning of Canadian involvement in [[World War II]] all of the gun batteries at Fort Rodd Hill were obsolete and a plan to upgrade the defenses was in place. The upgrade plan was not complete when war was declared and a shortage of the required armament throughout the British Commonwealth forced the implementation of a scaled back interim plan. The original plan had been developed by Major [[B.D.C. Treatt]], Royal Artillery, for defenses along the British Columbia coast. For Fort Rodd Hill, the plan upgraded the only operational guns at the fort, two 12 pounder QF guns in Belmont Battery, to a more modern twin 6 pounder QF installation. The new twin 6 pounder was not in place until 1944.

== Fortress Plotting Room ==
In the early years of [[World War II]] (1940-1941) a Fortress Plotting Room was built into an outer wall of the Lower Battery. This facility was built to provide target information to the long range guns of the [[Mary Hill Battery]] and [[Albert Head Battery]]. The plotting room had its own switchboard to take in target data from the observation posts and pass azmuth and range data to the guns. The computations were done using a Fortress Plotting Machine that weighed a half ton. The facility was bomb proof and gas proof.

The plotting machine was obsoleted by the introduction of radar into the harbor defense and the room became an anti-aircraft operations room in 1951 until it was closed down in 1954.
[[File:Fort Rodd Hill Plot - 01.jpg|thumb|left|795px|Fortress Plotting Room in Fort Rodd Hill]]

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== Searchlight Systems ==
[[File:Fort Rodd Hill2 - 127.jpg|thumb|left|200px|60" Searchlight in a Shelter]]
Searchlights were first installed at Fort Rodd Hill about 1902 and were meant to light up targets at night. There were two lights installed, No. 1 was on the west side of the point and No. 2 was located on the east side near the lighthouse. The No. 1 light was a narrow beam with a range of about 5000 yards while the No. 2 light was a wide beam with a range of about 2000 yards. The searchlight system was updated during [[World War II]] with modern 60" searchlights. By the end of the war 17 searchlight positions ringed the harbor. Two of the Fort Rodd Hill searchlight shelters still exist, one disguised as a fisherman's hut.
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<gallery>
Image:Fort Rodd Hill Battery Belmont from Below.jpg|Battery Belmont Gun & BC Post from Below
Image:Fort Rodd Hill Upper Searchlights - 01.jpg|Upper Searchlight Shelter
Image:Fort Rodd Hill Lower Searchlight - 4.jpg|1940 Lower Searchlight Shelter # 7 Disguised as a Fisherman's Hut
Image:Fort Rodd Hill Searchlight Power Bldg - 2.jpg|Searchlight Powerhouse
Image:Fort Rodd Hill Searchlight Power Bldg - 5.jpg|Searchlight Generator
</gallery>
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== Anti-Aircraft Systems ==
<gallery>
Image:Fort Rodd Hill 90mm AA Gun - 2.jpg|90mm AA Gun
Image:Fort Rodd Hill AA Gun - 4.jpg|Anti-Aircraft Gun
</gallery>
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== Current Status ==
Must See! Now a part of Fort Rodd Hill, Parks Canada park. Period guns and carriages in place. Restored and interpreted gun batteries.
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(F) 48.432457, -123.450971
Fort Rodd Hill<br>(1894-1956)
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Upper Battery
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Battery Belmont
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Lower Battery
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'''Location:''' Fort Rodd Hill Parks Canada Park, Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

{{Mapit-US-cityscale|48.4323|-123.4504}}
* Elevation: ....'
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'''Sources:''' 
* {{MorganCDSGJ-V9-I2}}

'''Links:'''
* [http://www.northamericanforts.com/Canada/bc2.html#esq North American Forts - Fort Rodd Hill]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Rodd_Hill Wikipedia - Fort Rodd Hill]
* [http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/bc/fortroddhill/index.aspx Parks Canada - Fort Rodd Hill]

{{Visited|5 Jun 2014, 22 Jun 2009}}

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[[Category:All]]
[[Category:British Columbia All]]
[[Category:British Columbia Forts]]
[[Category:British Columbia Vancouver Island]]
[[Category:Canadian Forts]]
[[Category:Coastal Forts]]
[[Category:Endicott Period Forts]]
[[Category:Harbor Defense of Victoria]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:2009 Puget Sound Trip]]
[[Category:2010 CDSG Meeting]]
[[Category:2014 Research Trip]]
[[Category:Display Gun]]
[[Category:Must See]]